Not much on my mind at the moment fit for your eyes ... but I'm writing so that cranky Australian woman doesn't call me slack again. (kidding really... I hate to insult strangers, but I find that sometimes my fingers type things before I can think them through... oh wait? you say there's a "delete" button?? That's for wussies.)
Um... went wedding gown shopping today with "the other American." (why I always refer to her this way, I have no idea. She does have a name... However, I won't share it with you because I'm not sure she wants herself posted here. Anyway, I digress.) Back to the wedding gowns... It was a very nice day -- good girl bonding time. I'm really happy I could accompany her to the shops. Many Dutch people don't marry (again, educated people... same ones that aren't too fond of the US) so I'm not sure her Dutch girlfriends would really appreciate the experience like I did. (or get all giddy when a dress fit her nicely.)
Since I don't have much to write, I'll add a photo. Here's me in a pair of REAL wooden clogs. They DO still wear these things here. Apparently, they're great to muck around in the garden.
posted by A @ 10:00 PM
7 Comments:
Are they comfortable?
I have a hard time respecting matrimony opinions from a group of people who run around wearing wooden shoes.
It's all about the cow hide!!!
i stand corrected. Maybe the dutch know something we dont.
***
Wooden shoes
God made heaven and earth, but the Dutch made Holland. They also make "klompen" - wooden shoes or clogs. After land was reclaimed from the sea, the Dutch needed to be able to walk through the muddy earth, so they invented the wooden shoe.
Advantages of wooden shoes:
Cheap footwear
Easy to clean
Thanks to the orthopedic form wooden shoes support your feet. Especially for children this is important for obtaining a good posture
Hygienic. The wood absorbes perspiration and your feet are always surrounded by fresh air inside the wooden shoes
Thanks to the natural ventilation of wood, wooden shoes are cool in summer and warm in winter
Wooden shoes are safe; your feet are protected on all sides by the wood
Dutch wooden shoes are recognized all over the world and make an excellent gift
Let yourself be inspired by the wide range of our world famous wooden shoes.
History
While excavating near the town of Rotterdam, archeologists discovered a wooden shoe similar to the current style. This discovery proved that the Dutch have worn wooden shoes since 1271.
In winter the Dutch farmers used to carve their shoes for themselves and their families. Wooden shoes were cheap and the perfect footwear for working on the land. During the 18th century the art of making wooden shoes developed rapidly, and by the 19th century it had become a profession. In 1919 after the First World War there were 3,900 wooden shoe factories in Holland. In total they were producing 9 million pair of wooden shoes a year. By WW-II the number of factories had reduced to 1,800. The annual production was around 5 million pair. 1,300 of these factories were still making the shoes by hand, while the others became more mechanized.
In the 1960's wooden shoes became very popular as souvenirs. By 1975 there were only 150 factories but they still had an annual production of 3 million pair.
The present
Much has changed in the past 25 years. There are only 20 factories left and they have been computerized. They produce 1.5 million pair of wooden shoes and 3 million souvenirs and gifts related to wooden shoes. The Nijhuis wooden shoe factory produces a wide assortment of souvenirs and gifts, such as piggy banks, brush holders, bottle openers, key chains, brooches, and many more.
Poplar wood is used to make wooden shoes, as it is light and easy to work with. It is a fast-growing tree, growing to 1.5 cubic meters in 20 years. A tree this size can produce wood for 60 pair of adult-size shoes.
One million Dutch farmers, artisans, children and people working in the garden still wear them every day.
CE-mark
In 1997 wooden shoes became officially accepted as safety shoes with the CE-mark. It all started when the Dutch privatized Labour Safety Institutes banned the use of the world-famous wooden shoes by stating they were unsuitable for safety reasons. But the bureaucracy in Brussels had not done their homework! The Nijhuis wooden shoe factory demonstrated the extreme safety of wooden shoes by dropping a 50-kilo curb stone on Paul Nijhuis' own foot! The first drop caused a small crack and on the second drop only a small chip of wood came off. Paul walked away from the experiment unharmed proving that wooden shoes are absolutely safe and the have been that way for 700 years. They are also comfortable, because of the natural ventilation of wood, wooden shoes prevent perspiration of the feet. They are cool in summer and warm in winter. A product Mother Nature can be proud of!
In accordance with the prescribed use of safety shoes we feel responsible and warn you to take care when wearing wooden shoes on wet surfaces, for instance a roof or a wet board. Be aware of the risk of slipping. Replace the wooden shoe if the wood is cracked and when the notch in the bottom of the wooden shoe measures less than 8 mm (¼ inch). Otherwise when treading on a nail it could go through the wood.
After all….when wooden shoes are worn-out, you can use them as decorations, turn them into boats or plant containers. You can even warm yourself on them when used as fuel in a fire.
Then again - I came across this.
******
A Little Gas
A Dutch veterinarian was fined 600 guilders (about $240)
for causing a fire that destroyed a farm in Lichten Vourde,
the Netherlands. The vet had been trying to convince a farmer
that his cow was passing flatulent gas; to demonstrate, the
vet ignited the gas, but the cow became a "four-legged
flame-thrower" and ran wild, setting fire to bales of hay.
Damage to the farm was assessed at $80,000. The cow was
unharmed. AP
Anonymous... you have WAY too much time on your hands...
Not really.
But the 5 minutes I spend on your blog releases some secret wave of zen relaxation over me...
Being a blog lamprey is a lot more amusing than previously thought.
I don't even know what a lamprey is and I pride myself on my large vocabulary. Thanks... you've just made me feel stupid.
Now, where's my dictionary.
lam·prey ( P ) Pronunciation Key (lmpr)
n. pl. lam·preys
Any of various primitive elongated freshwater or anadromous fishes of the family Petromyzontidae, characteristically having a jawless sucking mouth with rasping teeth. Also called lamper eel.
Want to see something scary --- go here!!!
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=lamprey
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